America can place the entire tragedy into its distant memory or it can recommit to the most promising approach to long-term human progress: non-violent expression, constructive dialogue and decisive action to eliminate every unfairness in our society.

I love this picture. I've been showing it in my classes for more than a decade. But why in the world would I -- an activist committed to consistent nonviolence -- appreciate a portrayal of Jesus that is blended with Che Guevara?

It occurred to me, as I looked at a picture of photographers swarming a trio of women, that they are establishing an important point: Despite being decades past the western Women's Liberation Movement, the most direct and potent access to power they have still is through their sexuality.

Did those "Angry Queers" do us any good? Did their act of violence advance our cause, win hearts and minds, or lead us one step closer to full acceptance and equality? No. If we choose to act, the rules of relentless nonviolent resistance provide guidelines for our action.

Of the 50 people I spoke to (mostly college and high school students) at Madison Square Garden, not one of them was familiar with the Letter from Birmingham Jail. I know what you are thinking: "Thank heaven Alona had a copy!"

The use of force by police is not at all supposed to involve any notion of punishment or humiliation. Police are supposed to serve and protect all citizens, including those they regrettably have to arrest.

The propensity in the U.S. to conflate Islam with violence precludes the possibility of nonviolent Muslim protest motivated by an internal incentive, be it secular or religious. However, the concept of nonviolence is not foreign or new to Muslims.

Memo to Obama: Since your intelligence people didn't tell you, let me fill you in on why, by simply staying in the streets, the Egyptian people were able to topple a tyrant with 30 years seniority, sweeping him into the dustbin of history.

To honor Dr. King's legacy we need to go the peaceful way, not because it sometimes works, but because it is the best way of life. The peaceful way creates a community where life and creativity can flourish.